Fall brings a new exhibition of earthenware by Martina Lantin to the Penland Gallery and Visitors Center. The show runs until October 27.

 

Lantin creates ceramic tableware from earthenware clay, which she likes to call “chocolate porcelain.” Her unique forms are made by wheelthrowing combined with off-the-wheel alterations. Her pieces, she says, are meant for everyday use. Most of Lantin’s work is made in multiple parts and pieced together leaving some of the seams visible. A thin layer of white slip serves to accentuate the construction methods and to invite an exploration of the making process. “I seek to evoke nostalgia in the future by making pots that are reverberations of the past,” she says. “I draw inspiration from early English porcelain and cream ware. I provoke a tension between the elegant handling of the material and the rugged connotations of the clay body.”

 

 

Born in Montreal, Canada, Martina Lantin received her Bachelor of Art from Earlham College and her Master of Fine Art from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University. She has been an artist in residence at Baltimore Clayworks and Arrowmont School of Art and Craft in Gatlinburg, TN. She has taught workshops at Penland School of Crafts and Arrowmont. Currently, she is a professor at Marlboro College in Marlboro, Vermont. Her work has been featured in Ceramics Monthly and shown in numerous juried and invitational exhibitions. She has also published articles in Studio Potter and Pottery Making Illustrated.

 

Along with this special exhibition of works by Martina Lantin, the Penland Gallery has a sales area featuring work in all media by artists affiliated with Penland School of Crafts. Located on the Penland School campus, just off Penland Road in Mitchell County, the gallery is open 10 – 5, Tuesday through Saturday; 12 – 5 on Sunday; closed on Mondays. The gallery also offers tours of the Penland campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays. For more information call 828-765-6211 or visit www.penland.org/gallery.